The Sun newspaper reports that Craig and opening ceremony artistic director Danny Boyle have shot a skit titled The Arrival in which 007 travels to Buckingham Palace to be informed that his latest mission is to launch the 2012 games. He is then taken by helicopter to the Olympic stadium in Stratford, east London, where he parachutes into the arena. Boyle and Craig were reportedly given unprecedented access to the palace and its private rooms last week after the Queen personally sanctioned the move. The short film will be shown during the BBC's coverage of the opening ceremony.

A source told the Sun: "It's a huge coup for BBC producers and Danny to be allowed into the palace and have the Queen involved. They wanted the most iconic British film character inside the building most associated with London and with the monarch – and they got it.

I don't know how everyone else feels, but I think the epic cheese is awesome and I can't wait to watch.

It's probably a conscious design choice - making them look like a UK national would probably invoke the ire of some visiting delegation; why is the Olympic mascot English when the Olympics are supposed to be about unity and togetherness? Making the mascot a specific person draws attention away from the rest of the people who don't look like that mascot or share the same skin colour. Then you'll probably get complaints that it's racist.

Better to just make an ambiguous mascot that everyone can hate

Or maybe they'll luck out and the kids will love 'em and sell a billion of them.

- imdahman

"Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down;
tells ya she's hurtin' before she keels; makes her home."Malcolm Reynolds - Serenity